


In the Telling

by tiggeryumyum



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 05:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17995343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiggeryumyum/pseuds/tiggeryumyum
Summary: Muggleborn Iwaizumi could not be less impressed with pureblood Oikawa Tooru.





	In the Telling

**Author's Note:**

> [I made a chart for all the characters while doing this](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rSm0cRcWt98W6GdST8C2ocv5yXNHWLQ0IVf5K8c51Fs/edit?usp=sharing), because that is what i do.

_You're brave, no doubt about that… but there's that drive… Pride. Hrmm… Hardworker, too..._

Iwaizumi's dad is a muggle, and his mom is a witch. She was a Ravenclaw when she went to Hogwarts, but she doesn't cast spells much anymore. She says they're not all that strong, not worth the risk of being seen. She's too serious to talk much about anything magical or ridiculous anyway, so Iwaizumi only heard about the sorting hat on the train up to the school.

He shared a compartment with a tall, strange boy named Tendo, who had described _hat stalls_ like it they were the monster in a horror story. Iwaizumi had decided Tendo was exaggerating, just for that reason, just to scare them, so he didn't pay it any attention. 

Now, Iwaizumi grips the sides of the stool beneath him tight and tries to keep breathing, and _not_ crying, because that's the only thing that would make this worse. 

While the kids in line ahead of him had their name called, sat down, got sorted, and stood up again, at neat, regular pace, Iwaizumi's been sitting under the sorting hat for what feels like a whole hour, maybe two, and the thing on his head is still going in circles. 

Any time it sounds like the hat's finally made up its mind – _well, you've got a motor on you like I've never seen, and Hufflepuff is the house for that!!_ It spins around again - _but, of course, it could be polished and spit-shined in Slytherin!! You're not one to be satisfied by second place, are you?_

Tendo had said that if the hat can't decide, the student will be kicked out of Hogwarts. 

While sitting in the confident safety of the train compartment, Iwaizumi had been sure that was a stupid lie, but now his spinning, fear-dizzy mind starts to worry it might actually be the truth. When this first started, Iwaizumi had been holding his breath in anticipation. He's breathing now, but he's starting to feel woozy, lightheaded. 

He hopes the hat gets taken off his head one way or another before he gets sick all over his robes. 

_Don't have much to say, do you??_

Iwaizumi pauses.

Was it – talking to him?

_Well it'd be rude to be talking to anyone else! I'm on your head, aren't I? Do you care about which house you end up in or not?_

Iwaizumi doesn't care, because he doesn't know – he heard some of the kids on the train talk about how there's _no way_ they'd _ever_ be sorted into that house, or their parents would be disappointed if they went to this one, but he didn't pay attention to any of that, wanting to make up his own mind. He knows his mother said she went to Ravenclaw because of how much she liked books and studying, so he's not really interested in that, but – 

_Ha!! No danger there. You're bright enough, but no… hm. Well, a decision has to be made one way or the other! You've been a trooper about all this, so –_

" _Gryffindor!!_ " 

Iwaizumi jerks at the sudden noise, and so does the rest of the hall – Iwaizumi wonders if it's really been as long as it had felt in his tortured gut. Most of the students look like a little dazed, like they were shaken out of cat naps. 

"Very good, very good!" Professor Nekomata says, pulling the hat from Iwaizumi's head. "Go on."

Nekomata talks to the room, saying how these things happen, and it doesn't mean anything about the student in question, but his voice is a distant buzzing as Iwaizumi stands, knees wobbling before he stumbles down the steps, toward the Gryffindor table, the one with students in gold and maroon, clapping the loudest. 

"What was that? Almost thirty minutes??" a voice asks as he passes by. 

"More, I bet." 

"Forty-six. That's gotta be a new record." 

Iwaizumi drops down on to an open spot on the bench, and the older students grab Iwaizumi's shoulders right away, giving him a good shake, welcoming him into their house loudly. Normally Iwaizumi doesn't like a big fuss, but after that, the happy faces and hardy slaps on the back are comforting. 

He's still worked up during the next few students, " _Kita Shinsuke!_ " " _Hufflepuff!_ " " _Kuroo Tetsurou!_ " " _Ravenclaw!_ " 

But he's settled in enough to pay attention when _Oikawa Tooru_ is called. He sits up straight once he sees the face that belongs to the name. 

"You know him?" Daichi asks. He's another first year, sorted into Gryffindor directly ahead of Iwaizumi, and has very soft, friendly features, which had been especially nice to see after the scare on the sorting stool. 

Iwaizumi does know Oikawa Tooru – sort of. He didn't know his name until just now, but Iwaizumi spotted him back on the platform, waiting for the Hogwarts Express to roll into the station. 

They didn't say hello or anything, though.

"No," Iwaizumi decides on, watching Oikawa walk up to the stool.

Iwaizumi's always known about magic, and known it was a secret. As a child he kept a sharp eye out for it, hoping to see something suspicious or unusual – hoping to spot that secret magic happening. He saw suspicious things – a cat disappearing after it walks behind a trash can. An old man tucking a something shaped like his mother's wand into his sleeve… but cats can be sneaky, of course, and old men can have sticks. Iwaizumi could never tell for sure. 

On that platform, he knew for sure. He could feel it in the air, like static electricity crackling against his skin, goosebumps up and down his arms, like a limb waking up, except without the pain. That's magic. He knows now. 

And Iwaizumi saw the boy – Oikawa – pushing along a cart, and saw his face, and it made him feel the same way. Tingly, excitement. Magic. 

Iwaizumi had followed without a thought, instinctively knowing that wherever that boy went, that's where he ought to be, too. 

The sorting hat knows just what to do with him, too.

" _Slytherin!_ " 

Oikawa's barely even sat down before getting up again. He must have wanted that house, because he has a big grin.

Iwaizumi starts to clap. He's a little disappointed they won't be housemates, but at least Oikawa's gotten what he clearly wanted. A fifth year puts their hand on Iwaizumi's, stilling them, shaking their head.

"We don't like Slytherin," they say, with a conspiratorial grin. 

Iwaizumi frowns, watching Oikawa walk to his table, the one the other end of the hall, furthest away from Gryffindors. He's all smiles, and it makes his face look happy and sweet.

Iwaizumi frowns, and starts clapping again. 

He'll decide who he dislikes for himself.

~

"So you must be _interesting_ , huh?"

Oikawa comes right up to Iwazumi the next day at breakfast to ask this startling thing. He's still grinning, eyes bright. 

"I've never heard of someone stalling the hat that long before!" Oikawa says. "I'm Oikawa."

"Iwaizumi," Iwaizumi says. Mutters. He doesn't know why. He'd gotten plenty of attention in the Gryffindor common room the night before for the same thing, his housemates had all been just as interested, asking questions about himself, trying to figure out what had stumped the hat.

It's not the questions, or the attention itself, really. 

It's the question and attention from _Oikawa_.

"Was the hat talking the whole time?" Oikawa asks. "I heard that, that the hat talks to you in your head, but I barely heard anything, I was sorted so fast! What did it say?"

Iwaizumi shrugs and clears his throat. "Trying to figure out if I was more brave or hardworking."

"Hm. I guess that makes sense. There's a _lot_ of overlap between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor," Oikawa says. "They're basically the same house!"

He grins, like he made a joke. Like he's making a joke of Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi doesn't get it, and it annoys him. But he can't tell if Oikawa is doing it on purpose. 

"But it asked which house I wanted," Iwaizumi continues on, gamely. 

"And you wanted Gryffindor." 

"No. I didn't care," Iwiazumi says.

" _Don't care?_ " Oikawa repeats, flabbergasted. "Wait." Now he looks suspicious. "You're _muggleborn_ , aren't you?"

"My dad's normal. No magic," he says. His voice is defensive and short, because for some reason Oikawa's saying this like it's a bad thing. 

"Right. Well," Oikawa sighs, like this is a great disappointment. "I'm sure that won't hold you back too much, if you try hard enough."

It's only now that Iwaizumi's able to identify the feeling that had so overwhelmed him when Oikawa approached, making it hard to gather his thoughts, to speak clearly – it had been happiness. The sudden fall from such a high is unpleasant. Iwaizumi tightens his jaw. 

"How much work would it take for you to not be an asshole?"

Oikawa's mouth works once, hand to his chest like an old lady who heard a nasty swear. "How rude!"

And Iwaizumi's decided, for himself. 

He doesn't like Oikawa.

~

Oikawa's pureblood, all the way down. 

Slytherins and Gryffindors have potions with Professor Irihata together, and during class one day, the professor asks for a few drops of blood from a student volunteer, saying it needs to be pure at least eight generations back. 

Oikawa raises his hand.

Later, Iwaizumi finds out that this is something Professor Irahata does every year as an object lesson, to show no one's blood is as pure as they like to say.

The professor hadn't expected Oikawa's blood to actually work. But it does, and in a bright, loud puff of smoke, Oikawa proves he's got just as much magic in his family line as he'd been saying. 

The class murmurs in surprise. From what Iwaizumi can tell, Gryffindors aren't supposed to care about blood, but some of them still mutter to each other about this, obviously jealous. 

Iwaizumi really doesn't care. This doesn't change his opinion on Oikawa at all. He's still a jerk, and Iwaizumi makes sure he's still making that opinion clear on his face when Oikawa looks his way from the front of the potions class, like he wants to _brag_.

Iwaizumi's mother doesn't do much magic, but the stuff she does is all herbology. Iwaizumi's known for a while that crossing two types of flowers together makes a hybrid that's stronger and healthier than both originals. 

A flower that's _purebred_ has _status_ , his mother says. But even if _status_ makes it more expensive, it doesn't make it better, and Iwaizumi's seen pure blooded flowers wilting and dying with the slightest mishandling or temperature change. He's seen how often they bloom lopsided, wobbly, and sad, how his mother has to try again and again, resorting to actual magic to get it to work. Iwaizumi usually feels pity for the flower, and superior to the idiots who want to pay more for this, because of _status_.

Humans aren't flowers, but still. The appeal of _purity_ is lost on Iwaizumi. He's got the strong parts from his father, the strong parts from his mother, and he likes it like that.

All first year, Iwaizumi thinks Oikawa's one of those status obsessed idiots, but around second year he realizes that's not quite right, either. Oikawa will certainly use it when it suits him – when he wants to brag, or use it as an insult, to pick a fight – but he'll ignore it just the same. 

The shallow truth is Oikawa doesn't want limit his pool of potential admirers. 

He's been seen at Hogsmeade with girls from all houses, and all types of blood. As long as they fawn after Oikawa, everything else is secondary.

Iwaizumi doesn't fawn over Oikawa, and gets furiously embarrassed when he thinks about how he _almost_ did, how if Oikawa had given him half the chance he might have actually done it, but thankfully Oikawa's personality is so awful that was never a real possibility. 

No one in Gryffindor has said anything to Iwaizumi, but he knows if anyone bothered to break down the numbers, they'd see that Iwaizumi's fights with Oikawa are one of the biggest losses of house points to Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

He's not proud of it, but what else can he do?

"There goes Iwazumi-kun~," Oikawa singsongs as he walks across the court. It's snowing so his cheeks and nose are pretty pink, hands tucked into an absurdly fluffy handwarmer, a style Iwaizumi's only ever seen in movies set in Victorian England. "The only Hogwarts student so boring it took the hat an hour to find something worthwhile~" 

A group of Hufflepuff first years watch, eyes wide, an especially bratty one named Terushima snickering behind his hand.

"Shut your shitty mouth," Iwaizumi snarls, throwing a snowball at Oikawa's head.

It hits, a satisfying, wet slap against his right eye, and Oikawa's breath catches, shocked as he always is when someone dares to treat him the way he deserves. Iwaizumi's a fair sport, of course. He's a Gryffindor. He waits for Oikawa to get his precious dainty hands out of his precious handwarmer and wipe the snow off his face before throwing the second snowball. 

Oikawa makes a second indignant squawk, scrambling down, reaching toward the ground for ammunition. Iwaizumi gets in three more shots, each time Oikawa yelps dramatically when they his body, before he finally gets enough snow to retaliate. 

The two of them have had some nasty fights over the years. 

Iwaizumi is sensitive to dark magic, and Oikawa is skilled at curses. Iwaizumi's wand is Ash, which is hard to control and can sometimes misfire, spells exploding from the tip with more force than Iwaizumi intended. They seem designed to hit one another's weak points, and as soon as magic gets in the mix, their fights escalate to ugly things that leave their house points dwindling hopelessly behind Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

This time, they stick to the snow. Iwaizumi's surprised that Oikawa actually has decent aim, even without magic to help, and he dives behind a bench for shelter, and realizes he's smiling. 

When he throws his next clump of snow, Oikawa quickly dodges. He sees a smile on Oikawa's face, too, a joyful one, like the one from sorting ceremony three years ago. But he hollers angrily when Iwaizumi's next snowball flies true.

Iwaizumi laughs, until Oikawa's snowball smacks into his chin. Feeling almost giddy, they continue the fight. 

This isn't a fight that's going to turn mean. It'd be hard for anyone else to tell the difference, though, so it's not surprising when the Head Boy sticks his head out one of the hall windows, barking to report to detention _immediately_.

They shuffle inside together, robes wet from their fight and kneeling in the snow. 

They're taken to Professor Nekomata, who scolds them without mercy, long out of patience with their squabbling. Twenty points from Gryffindor, twenty points from Slytherin, and the two of them are washing down the tables in the hall for dinner. 

"Yes sir."

They work in mostly silence, but when Oikawa suddenly snickers, Iwaizumi glances up. They make eye contact and share a short, private smile. 

Halfway through their task, Iwaizumi feels his pant legs and shoes heating against his body, rapidly. He blinks down in surprise, watching them dry.

"Being muggleborn is no excuse for not knowing your drying spells by now, Iwaizumi-kun," Oikawa tsks from across the room, spinning his drying rag on his finger. 

Iwaizumi considers his grin. Oikawa is expecting an insult in return, because that is what they do. For some reason, Iwaizumi wants to surprise him instead.

"Thanks," he says, and on just that word, the rag spins right off Oikawa's finger in surprise. 

Iwaizumi snorts, and goes back to wiping down the table.

~

Quidditch players get to practice as often as they like. 

Quidditch players like Bokuto.

Bokuto is a Gryffindor, in Iwaizumi's year, on the team as the rightside beater since second year. 

Bokuto doesn't really brag, but he's so proud, happy, and loud, he might as well be. He shouts in happy surprise when he's granted permission by Professor Ukai to leave class early to get ready for an upcoming game that weekend, so excited he has to be called back to gather the scrolls and texts sitting in a haphazard pile on his desk. 

For everyone else left behind in the classroom, finding a decent time and place to practice is a struggle. The captains of the teams are viciously competitive about reserving the Quidditch pitch even with each other, let alone potential hopefuls wanting to polish their skills with the school-issued brooms. 

Because he stepped off the Hogwarts Express at the end of his first year talking about Quidditch and didn't stop the entire summer break, Iwaizumi is one of the lucky ones. His parents bought him Nimbus Silver his second year, which he is obviously planning to use in a game one day, but this is a high hope. 

A chaser graduated out of Gryffindor's team during third year, and it felt like half of Gryffindor house was there to try out, but the spot went to Hoshiumi, a tiny, speedy second year who has the build of a seeker. This frustrated a lot of the potential players, but not Iwaizumi. He's not really a chaser. He'd take it, that's mostly what he plays as during unofficial practices anyway, but he's a beater. 

Iwaizumi knows fourth year is his year. Gryffindor's leftside beater graduated. Iwaizumi is going to grab her old position. 

"Good luck Iwaizumi-kun," Oikawa songsongs. They're in the lockers beside the Quidditch pitch. Gryffindor's try-outs are first, then an hour later Slytherin has the field. Oikawa is currently cleaning his already very well polished broom, preparing. "Hopefully your captain will have an easier time sorting you than the hat did!"

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow, and flicks his wand from the laundry basket toward Oikawa. One of the towels lands on his head, and Oikawa makes one of those delightful noises of shocked indignation, choking on it the sound. Iwaizumi snickers, leaving for the pitch in a good mood. 

Oikawa is a keeper. Iwaizumi knows this because he's seen him practices, not just the free few hours they get once a week, but also in secret, late at night, like Iwaizumi himself does. 

The first time Iwaizumi saw Oikawa out there, he hadn't recognized him. All Iwaizumi had seen was a keeper in front of the goal posts, quick reflexes, aggressive, advanced broom handling. 

Iwaizumi is still a novice to the sport, especially compared to the wizards and witches who grew up on it, but he knows talent when he sees it, and watched, openly admiring the mystery keeper's moves, wondering which house was so lucky to have him – and when Oikawa landed, Iwaizumi's face heated, annoyed and furious that Oikawa dared to be so good at _this_ , too. 

Oikawa is certainly going to be the new Slytherin keeper.

Iwaizumi's blood moves, fast and excited as he thinks about facing off against him in the air. It'd be unsportsmanlike for any beater to target the keeper, but still, being able to face off with him, knowing he was beating Oikawa's team – Iwaizumi can't help but like the sound of that.

There are four Gryffindor hopefuls for the beater position, but it becomes apparent within a few minutes in the air that the main competition is between Iwaizumi and Kyotani, a boy just one year below him. 

When Kyotani loses his temper and hurls his bat at Gryffindor's seeker, Nishinoya, who had been shouting suggestions and insults at them from the stands, Iwaizumi can see the decision settle in their captain's face. 

So Iwaizumi is the new Gryffindor beater, but Oikawa is not the Slytherin's keeper.

The Slytherin upperclassmen who had originally decided to retire early changed his mind, and wanted the spot back. The team passed it right over, forgoing their tryouts entirely.

Iwaizumi is little disappointed to hear this, but nothing like Oikawa's barely contained frustration. 

"It's already been four years," Oikawa seethes. Since that truce in detention – or maybe the snowball fight before that – they've been actually spending time together when they have the chance. They're walking back to class after their free period, which they spent in the library, talking more than studying. "At this rate we're only going to get to play three years."

"You're only playing three," Iwaizumi corrects. "I'm playing four years."

"You – " Oikawa whirls around, looking at Iwaizumi with sharp, furious eyes. "You made the team?"

Iwaizumi grunts an answer instead of repeating it, because he knows Oikawa heard him. He would like to tease Oikawa about this a little, but he can see Oikawa's face. This isn't something to tease him about.

Oikawa is outraged about Iwaizumi going on ahead with him, but there's nothing to be said, really. They both did their best. It was circumstance, and no one is at fault.

It doesn't look like any of that helps. Oikawa is still fuming as they take their seats at their respective desks in Arithmancy, stewing in rage and jealousy. 

~

"Iwaa~izu~mi-kun," Oikawa says, voice drawn out like he's about to ask a question. He looks so proud of himself that Iwaizumi can't decide between amusement and suspicion. At least he seems to be in a good mood, which is a pleasant surprise. It's the first game of the Quidditch season, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. He had expected Oikawa to be as big of a brat as possible, refusing to watch the game, pretending like he even forgot it was happening - but here he is, leaning into the empty spot across from Iwaizumi in the hall. For a foolish moment, Iwaizumi actually wonders if Oikawa's about to wish him good luck. "What's your most embarrassing secret?"

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow, unimpressed at this obvious bait. "That you're the most beautiful boy I've ever seen."

A beat.

It's hard to tell who is more shocked in the following silence: Iwaizumi, Oikawa, or the table of Gryffindors witness to this event.

Iwaizumi recovers first, on his feet, hand to his throat, horrified and enraged. "What did you do, Shittykawa?" he snarls. Some sort of – of – _embarrassment_ spell? 

"Vertiserum," Oikawa actually murmurs this, and if the room wasn't totally silent, no one would've heard it. But it is, and everyone did.

Heat flashes across Iwaizumi's skin, his jaw clenching. It's some sort of animalistic reaction to danger and he knows Oikawa is, somehow, telling truth.

"But – you're intelligent and talented," Iwaizumi says, tone insulting, as he had been trying to do, and almost starts choking as the last word falls out. He covers his mouth. 

"Are you jealous of me, Iwaizumi-kun?" Oikawa asks, like a cat eyeing its prey.

"Fuck no," Iwaizumi says, thankfully. "You're an obnoxious, spoiled brat. The only reason anyone puts up with you is because you're charming and thoughtful, _fuck_."

"Come on, Iwaizumi," Daichi is grabbing Iwaizumi's shoulders, dragging him back. Matsukawa, of Slytherin, is putting his arm out, pushing Oikawa back.

"Do you love me??" Oikawa calls out as he's pushed back toward the end of the table.

With a noise of disgust, Sugawara, of Hufflepuff, stands from his table, " _Praeligus!_ "

A gag appears, slapping over Oikawa's mouth like duct tape, but it was obviously too late to stop the question from being asked, and Iwaizumi from answering. 

"Probably!" Iwaizumi shouts then digs his hands in his hair, shouting in pure rage. " _Fuck you, Oikawa!_ "

He's dragged out of the Great Hall.

"Hey, hey! Ready for the game?!" Bokuto says, practically hopping down the steps, already in his Quidditch gear. 

"Fuck no – " Iwaizumi is horrified to hear himself saying, and thankfully Daichi slaps a hand over his mouth. 

"We need to see Miyanoshita-san in the infirmary," Daichi says. 

Bokuto is disturbed and confused, but he's always been fast on his feet, taking Iwaizumi by the other arm, obviously assuming Iwaizumi is severely injured. What else could prevent someone from playing Quidditch?

"Wait," Iwaizumi says, pulling himself free, yanking Daichi's hand off his face. There are two thoughts in his head, and he focuses hard on just one, because just the one is enough, and it's true. It is true. It's enough of a truth. "If I go to the infirmary, I'm not playing today. I'm not hurt. I can play."

"Iwaizumi, we don't even know what that actually was – "

"It's Vertiserum," Sugawara says, jogging up to them. He shakes the vial of clear liquid in his hand. Sugawara is in the advanced potions classes, and even as a fourth year is called down to assist with Nekomata's more complicated serums. If anyone could tell, it'd be him. "Are you heading to the infirmary?" 

"He doesn't want to risk the game," Daichi says.

"Well – " Sugawara looks at the vial again and shrugs. "It takes four hours to brew the antidote. But Miyanoshita-san might have something that could help in the meantime. Are you sure?"

"If I go to the infirmary, Oikawa's getting expelled," Iwaizumi growls, furious. He bites hard on his lip, looking at the floor, annoyed with himself for still – caring, apparently. He should be happy to see Oikawa out the doors, but. He's not. Apparently.

One of them sighs. Iwaizumi's not sure who. 

"Fine," Daichi says. "Iwaizumi?"

Iwaizumi glances up to see Daichi leveling his wand at Iwaizumi's face.

" _Praeligus!_ "

~

Gryffindor wins, mostly because the Ravenclaw seeker grabs the snitch without realizing Gryffindor had scored 17 times with the quaffle, ending the game before Ravenclaw had the team to catch up. 

By the time they land, Iwaizumi can tell the potion has loosened its hold on his tongue, just slightly. Enough that Iwaizumi could probably stutter and struggle instead of just letting all his secrets pour freely from his mouth at the first excuse. 

"Almost!" Sugawara says, when Iwaizumi heads down to check his progress. "Come back in thirty minutes?"

Iwaizumi nods, leaves the potions classroom, and runs directly into Oikawa.

He's expecting some humility. An apology. Instead, Oikawa smiles a smug little cat like grin. 

_Do you love me?_ Iwaizumi remembers Oikawa's voice, and has to hold back the urge to deck him. 

"Listen, Iwaizumi," Oikawa says.

"Fuck off, Oikawa," Iwaizumi says, stepping around him.

"I know, you're still under the serum," Oikawa says, following. "I won't ask you anything, but tomorrow when it wears off – "

" _No_ ," Iwaizumi says. "Leave me a lone, Oikawa."

Oikawa blinks, processing that. "Okay – ? How long?"

"From _now on_."

At least that wipes the smile from Oikawa's face. "Iwaizumi-kun," he says, seriously. "I'm sorry – "

"You did this before," Iwaizumi says, gritting his teeth like that will somehow stop anything embarrassing from sneaking out as he tries to say this. "First year."

Oikawa's brow creases in confusion, but he waits, not asking any questions, true to his word. Iwaizumi stops walking, cornering him in the nearest dungeon wall.

"I saw you. I wanted," Iwaizumi says. "To talk to you. You came up to me, and I was." Iwaizumi swallows it down, hard. "I was happy you wanted to talk to me. And you turned out to be an ass. Just like. Just like now, you fucking – I thought – maybe we could be f-friends, but you just _can't stop_ being an asshole!"

The dungeons are cramped, and his shout echos, replaying his stupid vulnerability over and over again. 

"I'm sorry," Oikawa says. "But listen, I like you – "

"You're a selfish, shallow liar," Iwaizumi says. "Even if that's true, it doesn't help."

Oikawa flinches.

Iwaizumi shakes his head and heads up the steps, away from Oikawa. 

~

"Sweet Suga-kun~"

"Yes, Oikawa?" Sugawara sighs. He sounds exasperated. 

Iwaizumi hitches his shoulders up. He told Oikawa to leave him alone, and he obviously meant it, it's not like he could lie. But part of him is a little disappointed to see how easy it is for Oikawa to do that. 

Oikawa has a lot of friends. All houses. It's not hard for him to move on from Iwaizumi. It's been a week and he hasn't made any attempt to approach Iwaizumi, or anyone in Gryffindor from their year.

"You're good at potions, right?" he hears Oikawa ask, just behind him. 

"I try," Sugawara says. "But if you're thinking of making _another_ extracurricular potion – "

"No, no," Oikawa says. He's speaking loud and Iwaizumi feels both annoyance and relief as he realizes that this is a calculated Oikawa move. He wants Iwaizumi to be listening. "I just want you to confirm what this is."

A long, long beat of silence. Sugawara's voice is dark and quiet. "You made _more_ Vertiserum?"

"Yes. Did you hear that Iwaizumi-kun?"

Iwaizumi turns around slowly, so conflicted about what's happening that he hast to stop himself from grinding his teeth. "What do you want?" he snarls. 

Oikawa is grinning again. That pleased with himself smile. He pops the cork off the vial in his hand. He tips his head back, and takes a swig.

" _What_ – " 

Iwaizumi's not sure who shouted it, but Sugawara and Iwaizumi both jump to their feet. 

Oikawa drugged Iwaizumi mid-morning, between breakfast and lunch. There was a moderate number of students around because it was a Saturday, but this is full dinner hour. The tables are full, just waiting on the professors to show up for dinner to begin.

Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Slytherins all stare, mouths open.

" _Oikawa_ ," Matsukawa, a Slytherin classmate in their year says, stunned, taking a quick step toward him, but obviously realizing it's too late to do anything about it, and stopping there.

A beat of silence. 

Another Slytherin student peers out from behind Matsukawa slowly. He's a quiet kid Iwaizumi usually sees with Ravenclaw Kuroo, and it takes Iwaizumi a moment to remember his name as Kenma.

"Oikawa,” he says. He voice is quiet, but his eyes are narrowed. Like he has a score to settle. “Did you eat my Shock-O-Chocs last week?" 

"No," Oikawa says, and obviously means to stop there, but the rest slips out, Oikawa's eyes widening in surprise as it does. "But I saw Futakuchi do it."

Futakutchi jerks, from where he'd been, from all indications, minding his own business at the Slytherin table, mouth falling open as Kenma turns to glare. 

"Hey Oikawa-san," Futakutchi says, angry. "When you judged that contest between the third years early this year, did Suna _actually_ win?"

Oikawa twists slightly, obviously trying to fight this answer off. Each Slytherin at the table is watching intently, and Iwaizumi isn't sure what contest this was, but it was clearly a pretty big deal, and this is confirmed when Oikawa mutters, " _No_." and the following explosion of outraged shouts. 

" _I knew it_!"

"I just didn't want to share my single room," Oikawa says, from under the hand covering his mouth. 

"Where did you hide that illegal snake you brought in second year??" another Slytherin asks.

"In the Forbidden forest," Oikawa grunts out. "Muggle cage."

"Hey Oikawa," Matsukawa says, chin in his hand, lazily. "Remember how you said Shimizu asked you to Hogsmeade first year?" 

Oikawa twitches all over, actually starting to lean backward. "She didn't," he grunts out between lips he's trying to keep pressed together. "I asked her and she ignored me."

"Oikawa-san," calls out Goshiki, face bright and amused, riding high on the laughter from the rest of the table. "What's your biggest fear?"

"… I'm terrified of being alone," Oikawa says. This actually comes out calmly, and the amused, rambunctiousness from the table dies out quickly. Goshiki's face goes pale, horrified, and he sits down with a heavy thud.

Alright. That's enough. Iwaizumi grips the back of Oikawa's robes, and starts walking toward the doors of the Great Hall. 

He keeps walking after they make it out into the silence of the halls, until he finds a room usually used for duel practice. He shoves Oikawa in ahead of him and slams the door shut behind him.

"Iwaizumi-kun," Oikawa says. 

Iwaizumi glares, silently.

"Aren't you going to ask me something?"

"No."

"Wha – why??"

"What is this supposed to prove?" 

"I – I don't know," Oikawa says, like he's surprised to hear the answer himself. "Maybe not anything? It's not helping at all??"

"Helping _what?_ " Iwaizumi says. "What are you trying to do?"

"Get you to forgive me," Oikawa says.

"Oikawa – "

"Iwaizumi. I liked you since – since you were trying not to cry under the sorting hat. Shit. Sorry, I'm sorry," Oikawa says, grimacing, clearly reading the humiliation on Iwaizumi's face. "But I wanted – I guess I wanted you to want to be around me. But nothing I did impressed you!!"

Iwaizumi leans back, blinking at the sudden shout. Oikawa is pacing now. 

"I could never get your attention enough that you – wanted to hang out, or go to Hogsmeade, or study like other people do!!"

"'Other people,'" Iwaizumi repeats. "The people who follow you around and tell you how great you are."

"Exactly!!" Oikawa says. "You never – never did! And that drove me crazy, I wanted – I just wanted you. Nothing worked. And I tried to say, _well fuck him, who needs him, why's he even special_ , but I kept thinking about you! I actually really liked you. More than – than I like other people. Other people who are _actually nice_ to me."

"Right," Iwaizumi says, rolling his eyes, annoyed that he's actually a little amused by Oikawa's oblivious confusion about Iwaizumi's refusal to fall in line with the rest of his sycophants. 

"And then you made the Quidditch team. I was – angry and jealous, I thought, when I was making the serum, because," Oikawa says this slowly, obviously just realizing it himself as he says it. "Because I was mad you made the Quidditch team, and I told myself that you didn't deserve it, but actually I – I was scared. That you were going to move on and I wouldn't have _any_ chance if getting your attention ever. That… you were going to – leave me alone." 

_Leave me alone_. So anticlimactic after all that heated beat up, but it's said so sincerely, quietly. Miserably. His worst fear. 

Oikawa bites his lip, apparently having said his piece.

"What did you think I was going to happen when you drugged me?" Iwaizumi asks, after a long pause.

"I don't know. You still sleep with a stuffed animal? Something stupid," Oikawa says, oddly calm, though his expression is haunted. "I knew you were going to look at me."

Iwaizumi sighs. 

He looks up at the massive portrait on the wall above them. It's a large one, a group of lords and ladies, but Iwaizumi spots at least seven different figures from other paintings peering into frame, listening in to their fight, eyes wide, interested, waiting for Iwaizumi's response.

"I going to ask you a personal question," Iwaizumi says. "Are you okay with that?"

"Please. Yes. Please. I'm sorry."

"What do you want from me?"

"Right now," Oikawa says, eyes darting back and forth. He clearly doesn't know what's about to come out of his mouth. "I want to go back to before, when we were friends. I want to be someone you smile at again. You don't smile at a lot of people. When you smiled at me – I want you to smile at me. That's what I want."

"I'm never going to be one of your fans."

"I think that's why I love you," Oikawa says. They're looking at each other, dead in the eye, when Oikawa says this. He wasn't expecting to drop that. 

Iwaizumi swallows, reeling from that. He'd been resisting the idea of being friends with Oikawa for so long, believing that part of the sacrifice of that was his pride, his dignity. The realization that those are the things Oikawa actually _wants_ – it's a sudden pressure against his shoulders lifting, vanishing to nothing. 

"God," Iwaizumi grumbles, running a hand through his hair. Oikawa perks at his tone. Gruff but calm. "If you ever drug me again, I'm going to break you in half."

"That's fair."

"Next Hogsmeade trip," he says. "Do you want to go?"

This is Iwaizumi's first kiss. Rushed, excited, Oikawa's hands cradling his cheeks, until he calms down enough to bring them down to Iwaizumi's shoulders.

He'll get better kisses from Oikawa, and he'll give better kisses. And Oikawa wasn't really saying anything. It's not much of anything, but Oikawa had been asked a question, and in that moment, the most honest expression of his answer he could think of was to do his best to press all of his feelings directly into Iwaizumi, try to make him feel it, the only way he knows how.

It sparks against Iwaizumi's skin, something stronger than faint tingles, an expression of how Oikawa feels for him, and it's better than magic.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] "In the Telling" by Tiggeryumyum](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21178715) by [Phantom_Ice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantom_Ice/pseuds/Phantom_Ice)




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